Kyran and the rest of the people Lumi took in her domain appeared back to the training room. Those left behind were curious as to what happened. But Kyran and the others acted as if what happened was nothing noteworthy. Thus, Noir and the others refrained from asking.
After settling the containers with the Theihorns, Malek asked Noir and Vaness for materials that Kyran needed. Once the materials arrived, Stella took Kyran, Lumi, and Silas to the Alchemy Chamber.
Kyran was not going to perform alchemy, but the Tower’s Alchemy Chamber also had equipment that Array Specialists could use. Though he already had measuring tools and a cauldron, the Tower’s Array Equipment was of higher quality, and their cauldron came in different sizes. Kyran’s cauldron was too small for him to make the array ink.
The materials Kyran requested were indeed common. A piece of Duali parchment, a liquified low-grade spirit stone, and a feather quill made from will-o-wasp fur.
Will-o-wasps were a low-grade soul-type forest beast found near small bodies of water in the forest. They were gentle and timid creatures. When they felt threatened, they would not retaliate and instead would vanish in the air while leaving behind bits and pieces of their soft fur. Their furs actually contained memory and space magic. If a mage used the fur correctly, they could summon the magic contained within.
Of course, Kyran would not use the fur and summon its magic but use it as a quill to write a calculation. Because of the magic contained n the fur, it was necessary to stimulate memory and space magic on the calculation and into the Duali parchment.
The calculation was part of the secret knowledge that only a few Regis Family members could access and learn. It was not because they feared others might covet the calculation but because few could write it even among the Regis’s. Not to mention, willing to create it. Because the main ingredient to complete the ink used to write the calculation was a Regis pure blood. The amount needed to develop one scroll was also not easy because it required at least 15% of the total blood of an adult Regis.
Stella left Kyran, Lumi, and Silas in the Alchemy Chamber.
While Kyran was working on the cauldron, Lumi grew bored and returned to the Spirit World. Now, Silas was left alone with Kyran, and he admitted to feeling a little oppressed.
This feeling was not only because of what happened in the training ground but also because Kyran had that untouchable aura. His temperament differed from what Silas initially expected based on Phoebe’s stories and how the rest of the Regis talked of him.
If Silas had to choose one word to describe how they portrayed Kyran, it was; naive.
Why naive? Because Silas found Kyran’s relationship with his clan to be too perfect to be a point where he believed Kyran would suffer from the harsh reality of the outside world.
But after the brief exchange, they had in Lady Lumi’s domain, Silas realized that he was the naive one.
Kyran could solo one of the notorious mutated forest beasts in the Valley of Morte. That was a feat no one had ever done before. At least, as far as Silas was aware. He also had a feeling that Kyran had not told them everything he experienced there. Mutated forest beasts practically ruled that place. It was impossible to wander around at night and only encounter Theihorns.
Silas felt Kyran’s reluctance to tell them the whole story, and he was not that curious. To be honest, he felt a little fed up hearing a younger man’s accomplishment to last him a lifetime.
Kyran’s strength was too imbalanced that Silas felt like crying. Just what had Silas been doing all these years? He was actually convinced that he was a genius for achieving Master-level while he was still in his mid-twenties. But hearing about Kyran’s achievements was like being doused by cold water.
‘They said, people who are good at something will always be bad at something. Like a person with high IQ will have low EQ,’ Silas thought and wondered if Kyran was like that.
On second thought, while Kyran’s outburst earlier seemed like he had low EQ, how he managed to control his emotion and listen to their explanation was proof that his EQ was not low. Most likely, his outburst was because Silas and they touched his reverse scale.
‘Still,’ Silas thought and looked at Kyran, who was pouring the liquified spirit stones into the cauldron. ‘I am now the Regis Emissary, I have to do something to remove this awkward atmosphere.’
With that in mind, Silas took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
“I have not formally introduced myself,” he started.
“My name is Silas. I am a mercenary and a Master Ice Mage. Lady Lumi is my-,” he paused, unable to say the word ‘contracted spirit’, “-err, I guess I could say, she is a partner.”
Kyran emptied the bowl of liquified spirit stones into the cauldron before placing the empty bowl on the table near the cauldron.
He looked at Silas and nodded a little, “Hi. I’m Kyran.”
Kyran turned his attention back to the cauldron again.
Silas’s brow twitched. Pheobe told him a lot about Kyran but being a man of few words was not one of them!
Clearing his throat once more, Silas took a few steps near Kyran and said, “I’ve heard you are a combat specialist. Seeing how at ease you are in what you’re doing, I did not expect that you are also an Array Specialist.”
“I am not.”
“Oh? But what you’re doing…”
“I’m still an apprentice. My knowledge in Array Creation is still shallow so I can’t say I am a specialist,” Kyran replied.
Silas raised his brows in understanding. Hearing Kyran speaks more words this time made Silas realize that he was a person who would not speak more than what he had to say.
“I am not knowledgeable about Arrays, myself, but I’ve met a few and I can say you’re pretty much in the same level as them,” Silas told him, trying to gauge his reaction to praises.
Kyran shook his head. “I am far from it. Master told me I have talent but so far, I’ve only made calculations based on others.”
“Master? You mean Master Cade?”
Kyran’s brow creased slightly, and Silas belatedly wanted to hit himself.
Their conversation seemed to be going fine already. Why did Silas have to ruin it by reminding Kyran about his father?
“No,” Kyran replied after a short pause. “My father never taught me arrays.”
Silas fell silent. For some reason, Kyran’s profile while he observed the solution in the cauldron appeared lonely to Silas.
“I see,” he replied, trying to sound indifferent as possible to keep the mood from going bad. He continued, “Who did you learn from then?”
“Master Noir,” Kyran replied.
His answer almost made Silas slip.
“Noir? Like C-Chairman Noir of the Blacksmith Order? T-The man with us earlier?”
Kyran funnily looked at Silas and nodded.
“Yeah. Him.”
Silas looked at him incredulously. Who wouldn’t? Chairman Noir was infamous for rejecting all the geniuses from noble families to become his disciple! Although, last year, there had been an uproar when he finally announced accepting a disciple.
Forcing a laugh, Silas said, “To gain the approval of an Array Master like Chairman Noir is a great honor!”
Kyran looked at Silas with a complicated expression.
Just when Silas thought Kyran would say something, the latter chose to return his attention to the cauldron.
“Ahaha… I guess, having a father whose Array attainments that does not pale to the Chairman will make anyone-,” realizing what he was saying, Silas abruptly stopped and covered his mouth with his hand.
“It’s okay,” Kyran suddenly said without looking at him. “I don’t really know how high my father’s Array attainments are but, I’m not taking my Master’s word for granted. But given the situation I’m in right now, his words put a lot of pressure on me.”
Silas raised his brows in surprise. He understood what Kyran meant. If a known Spirit Master praised him, he too would feel pressured. There was also the ugly side of humans who would envy those who had talents.
But what made Silas surprised was hearing Kyran admit feeling ‘pressured’.
Unbeknownst to Silas, his image of Kyran had turned into a ‘godlike’ figure from all the stories he heard about him. He belatedly realized that this young man was still a teenager, and just as he said, his situation made it hard for him to feel really happy about anything. Another thing to think about was Chairman Noir’s disciple. Though the Conclave appeared to be on Kyran’s side, if Chairman Noir’s disciple heard him praise another person, he would definitely feel threatened. Especially with Kyran’s background.
Thinking about this, Silas could not help but ask, “Are you worried about what Chairman Noir’s disciple think of you?”
A rare smile appeared on Kyran’s face, which surprised Silas.
“No.”
Silas frowned slightly at Kyran’s confident answer. He wondered if Kyran had already met the Chairman’s disciple and found him amiable. If that was the case, then it was all good.
“By the way, whatever you see here, make sure you don’t tell anyone.” Kyran suddenly warned Silas.
“Of course.”
With a nod, Kyran took out a small knife. He lifted his right arm and placed it above the cauldron before slicing his forearm. Blood gushed out from his forearm and fell on the boiling reddish-gold liquid.
Silas watched with wide eyes at the scene. He actually did not know what Kyran was doing and why he did not want anyone else to see him work on it. Seeing how he suddenly sliced himself and used his blood, Silas thought it made perfect sense.
The use of one’s blood in a solution could be considered taboo.
“You’re a Regis Emisssary so I’ll trust you to keep this to yourself,” Kyran added.
Silas nodded. He remained silent as he watched the solution on the cauldron starts to sizzle.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Kyran still kept his arm above the cauldron and let his blood enter the solution.
Silas’s turned pale. How much blood was he planning to use?
“Um… Young master, y-your blood…”
“Don’t call me young master. Your a Regis Emissary but you’re not exactly a full-fledge clan member. Even if you are, I don’t like being called that way. Kyran is fine,” Kyran told him with a slight frown.
“I understand. B-But, you see… your blood…” Silas replied, getting paler by the second as if he was the one whose blood was being drained.
“Not enough,” Kyran replied.
“But that’s already a lot of blood.”
“Not yet.”
“Then when is enough?”
Just as Silas asked this question, the solution in the cauldron started to turn gold.